Pakistan is undergoing a tough phase right now both politically and economically. During this time of disinformation and panic mongering it is always better to seek consultation from someone who is well versed in the ways of the world and has an unbiased opinion as well. One such person is Mr. Diwan Fakhruddin who is the CEO of Fakhri Group, a leading HVACR and firefighting systems company. He is also the Chairman of Pak-UAE Business Council within FPCCI and the convener of Trades and Fairs at Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry. He is also the joint secretary for Bohra community of Karachi.
Engineering Post had a riveting conversation with Mr. Diwan Fakhruddin regarding the current situation of the country and how he views the upcoming months for the engineering industry. “First of all let me assure you that our country is not going towards default. People erroneously compare Pakistan with Sri Lanka; our situation is very different from theirs. Our commercial bad rates are not as bad as the case was in Sri Lanka so we are safe from default,” he said at the start of the conversation.
While commenting on the current economic scenario he said “There is currently a lot of financial chaos in the world especially because Europe and USA are having energy crisis. The Russia Ukraine war has also damaged the trading but I am sure that the upcoming months will be very positive for the whole country,” he said.
While explaining the situation in the Gulf countries Mr. Diwan Fakhruddin explained that economy of Dubai is growing as stability is increasing there. Qatar is also moving in the right direction and will get more stable after FIFA world cup. Oman is also stable. But in GCC the most active expansion is going on in Saudi Arab. “The vision of Prince Salman is expansion in Saudi Arab. The launching of Neom City and active developments in Jeddah are part of that vision and there are currently massive business opportunities over there.
Mr. Diwan Fakhruddin played a very pivotal role for the rehabilitation of the people from flood stricken areas. As the joint secretary for Bora community of Karachi he led from the front and was involved in providing cooked and dry rations to more than 3 lakh people and also provided shelter to more than 1.5 lakh flood affectees. “It is sadqa e Jaria and we will keep working for the rehabilitation of the flood affected people until things return to normal because the country always comes first,” he said.
Mr. Diwan Fakhruddin is also actively engaged with all the stakeholders including Governor state bank, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, Chairman FBR and others in order to release the shipments stuck at ports of Pakistan. During the conversation he revealed that after detailed discussions and deliberations they have convinced the government to release shipments on the prospect of deferred payment. “There are shipments worth more than 2.7 Billion dollars stuck on ports and they include perishable items as well. We have convinced the government to initiate a process of deferred payment so that the shipments can be released for now. FM Ishaq Dar has agreed and as of now we have released shipments worth around 20 million dollars,”
